Written by Michelle J. Goff, Founder and Executive Director of Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas
“Be fruitful and increase in number…” (Gen 1:28 NIV). “But women will be saved through childbearing…” (1Ti 2:15). Commands like these can be frustrating and confusing for single women. And for women who long to be a mother but are unable to bear children, they can become discouraged and disheartened.
Without negating the original commands to procreate and fill the earth, I would like to offer the principles in Isaiah 54 and John 15 as a spiritual interpretation of those commands for all Christians, no matter our marital status.
“Sing, barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband,”
says the Lord.
“Enlarge the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
your descendants will dispossess nations
and settle in their desolate cities.
“Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame.
Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youth
and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
For your Maker is your husband—
the Lord Almighty is his name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
he is called the God of all the earth.
The Lord will call you back
as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young,
only to be rejected,” says your God.
“For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
In a surge of anger
I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness
I will have compassion on you,”
says the Lord your Redeemer. (Isa 54:1-8, emphasis added)
For a woman of biblical times, her status and value were based on her ability to bear children, specifically male heirs. A wife was sometimes rejected or deserted because of her lack of offspring.
Barren women and single ladies, the Lord Almighty, our Maker, is our beloved husband, and partnered with Him, we can bear much fruit—spiritual offspring that will last an eternity.
While the Lord our Redeemer is speaking through the prophet Isaiah in broad terms to the nation of Israel, He is simultaneously presenting the principle of descendants “borne” to a barren woman.
“More are the children of the desolate woman… your descendants will dispossess nations… enlarge the place of your tent…” The Lord Almighty grants us the blessing and possibility of bearing spiritual children and grandchildren.
This simple blog post offers inadequate space to fully develop these principles or a theology for singleness, but I invite you to a deeper dive into the value and responsibility every single one of us has to bear fruit and multiply, to grow the Kingdom, through the book One Single Reason: Conversations with Single Women.
As a single woman, never married, who always dreamed of being a mom, I delight in stories of God’s amazing promises fulfilled through bearing spiritual fruit. I love to proudly share pictures of my spiritual children and grandchildren, my adoptive nieces and nephews. In addition to my own family, we are a spiritual family in Christ.
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (Jn 15:8)
All fruit contains the seed of future fruit. Its nature is to multiply. Whether we have children in the traditional sense, adoptive children, or spiritual children, we should model and instill in others this teaching to bear fruit and multiply—teaching to teach to teach (2Ti 2:2). It is a vital part of our DNA and identity as disciples of Christ.
For those whose family have not modeled this, for first generation Christians, and even for those who grew up in a Christian home, may we each thank the Lord for those who have made it a priority to enlarge their tents and invite us into the spiritual family of Christ.
How are you fulfilling the command to be fruitful and multiply? How does reframing the concept of spiritual descendants from Isaiah 54 help empower you for eternal Kingdom impact?
